Paint edgers and applicators are known. These have generally included a relatively-rigid backing plate, a handle mounted on the backing plate, and a relatively-flexible flocked, mohair or synthetic fabric pad removably attached to the backing plate. Where such devices have been used as edgers, the backing plate generally includes a plurality of guide wheels that are adapted to ride along a surface perpendicular to the surface being painted. For example, if the edger is used to paint the upper marginal edge of a wall adjacent a ceiling, the wheels would engage the ceiling and be used to guide the edger there-along.
In some prior art devices, the handle was simply a raised portion of the backing plate. This handle could be manually grasped and used to move the applicator along a wall being painted. This type of applicator is representatively shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,810,148.
Other applicators employed a handle that could be pivotally moved relative to the backing plate about either or both of two mutually-perpendicular axes. The two axes were arranged such that the handle could be moved relative to the backing plate in one plane substantially parallel to the wall being painted, and in another plane substantially perpendicular to the wall. However, this device contemplated that the handle would be locked and held in selected angularly-displaced positions in its respective planes of movement. The handle had an internally-threaded portion that was adapted to matingly receive the externally-threaded marginal end portion of an extension pole so that the applicator could be used to paint hard-to-reach locations. This type of applicator is representatively shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,896.
Another type of applicator had a handle that was mounted for pivotal movement relative to the backing plate in a plane generally parallel to the wall being painted. The handle was biased by a leaf spring to a centered or null position intermediate its pivotal limits of motion. This type of applicator is representatively shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,821.
Still another type of applicator had a handle that was selectively engageable with a backing plate at any of four equally-spaced angular positions. The handle of this device was also adapted to optionally receive the threaded marginal end portion of an extension pole. This type of applicator is representatively shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,852.
The disclosures of the aforesaid '148, '896, '821 and '852 patents are hereby incorporated by reference insofar as the structure and operation of such prior art pad-type applicators is concerned.
It would be generally desirable to provide an improved applicator or edger that afforded pivotal movement of a handle about two mutually-perpendicular axes so that the improved device could be both comfortably grasped by a painter's hand, and more easily used at the distal end of an extension pole.